


A Round Before You Go

by Pyrosnowman



Series: Neo Grimoire [4]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Just a group of hunters reminiscing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 19:05:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13394271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pyrosnowman/pseuds/Pyrosnowman
Summary: Even the most wild of hunters gather for a drink before missions.





	A Round Before You Go

Cayde always had an eye for the best spots in town. The ramen shop he liked to frequent so much was tucked in a corner, away from the general public and prying eyes, which made it particularly appealing for Guardians trying to get a bite to eat and be left alone while they did so. How Cayde knew that the food was so good was something Andal had never figured out He was pretty sure exos couldn't eat, but Cayde was never wrong about foods and drinks, and all he had seen his old friend consume was the weird glowing alcohol reserved for exos, which he was positive was actually just anti-freeze. Regardless, even Tevis had been won over by Cayde's impeccable taste in small spots in the unknown sections of the City, so none of them argued when a new bar was proposed for them to meet at. 

Andal kept his hood up to ward away the torrential rain and to help ignore the curious civilians watching the Hunter Vanguard walk through their little ghetto. Guardians weren't often seen in this neighborhood- it was too far from the Tower- but nobody stopped him for questions or signatures. The bar loomed into view, its flickering neon lights a bright signpost against the torrential grey downpour. A familiar yellow cloak gave away the exo leaning against the doorway, and the crossed arms and sour look just confirmed it. 

"Shiro!" he called out. "You're early."

The Bladedancer grunted, pushing himself off the wall. "One of us has to be. The rest of you have never been on time in your life." 

"I'll have you know I'm  _always_ on time," came a new voice. Andal turned to face the speaker, a small tugging at his lips. 

"If you stopped skulking in the shadows so much, we might even learn to appreciate that little fact, Tevis." 

"If you paid more attention to your surroundings, you might see me," came the curt reply. 

"We just listen for the sounds of doom and gloom to find you," came a jovial fourth voice. Shiro grumbled something about tardiness, but if Cayde heard it he didn't respond. "C'mon sourpuss, let's get warm and dry." 

Cayde led them all in, Andal quick to follow while Shiro and Tevis- ever the wary- hung back a few seconds to check their surroundings. He didn't particularly blame them, being a Bladedancer and Nightstalker respectively taught the both of them to always be on the lookout and never let their guards down. It was an unfortunate side-effect of being the lead scouts for the Vanguard, but being the best of the best came with that kind of responsibility. To their credit, they never complained. Well, Tevis did, but mostly it was about inexperienced greenhorns and Warlocks. When Shiro felt grumpy he just gunned down a few Fallen.  _Such a cheery bunch_ , Andal thought to himself. 

The interior of the bar was entirely wooden and poorly lit. A lone Frame swept the floor while a bored Awoken barkeep started pouring drinks like he already knew what they wanted. None of them bothered to protest, leaving the glimmer on the counter as a silent payment. Golden Age jazz was playing from a beat up old jukebox in the corner, but other than that, the bar was empty. For all his bravado and bluster, Cayde knew exactly how to cater to his companions when they needed a place to relax. None of them liked crowds, and the four of them had spent more time in the Wilds than in the City. A bustling bar with cheering and bets over Crucible matches would've set the four of them on edge. This though... this was nice. 

Cayde pulled a battered deck of cards from one of his pouches at his belt, dealing to the four of them. "So. Rules?"

"First one caught cheating buys the next round," Shiro replied, picking up his cards. 

"Tevis, I hope you came in loaded tonight," Cayde said with a chuckle. 

The Nightstalker sniffed derisively. "300 glimmer on Cayde losing the first round." 

Cayde laughed, sliding the money forward. "I'm looking forward to taking your money, friend." 

Tevis grunted in reply, but the four of them were all smiling ever so softly. 

* * *

The bar quickly became their go-to meeting spot. At times, they would see each other every night, sometimes it would go months between meetings. The nights rarely differed; the bar was almost always empty or sported only a handful of other patrons, Tevis would talk quietly of the Void and his strange communions with it, Shiro would discuss Fallen troop movements and report on his assassinations, Cayde would lay out maps and reports of uncharted territories (with details of where he stashed extra ammo and weaponry brightly marked), and Andal would discuss his day to day dealings with the Vanguard. They would play cards, Tevis and Cayde would lose more often than not, and the four of them would work their way through a few bottles before calling it a night. 

Tevis would never admit it, but he looked forward to these little meetings of theirs. Ever since Andal had become Vanguard, the four of them had been unable to form the fireteam that had launched them all into infamy. Cayde occasionally urged them to form up and take a crack at the Vault of Glass, but none of them wanted to do it without Andal, who of course would never shirk his duties as Hunter Vanguard. He had always been the most duty-bound and responsible of the four of them, he was a natural fit for his position. Thus, the bar. 

"So," Andal said slowly, perusing his hand. "when are you gonna start training up new Nightstalkers?"

Tevis raised an eyebrow at him while Shiro and Cayde exchanged looks. "You really think I'm gonna sit around with a bunch of kinderguardians and try to teach em how to pull on the Void? Half of em can't even aim straight, pulling a Void Bow is a whole 'nother monster."

"Yes, but you're one of the best we have," countered Andal. "And we  _need_ Nightstalkers. We lost too many Hunters after the Luna Disaster. We gotta bolster our ranks." 

Tevis chewed on his lip, the slowly nodded. "Tell you what. Beat me this next hand, and the next Hunter you send my way I'll train-  _if_ they got potential. But you don't get to sass me on how I train em."

"Deal." 

Shiro quietly handed a few cubes of glimmer to Cayde, clearly having lost whatever silent bet they made.

* * *

 

"Andal, I can't really recommend this one," Shiro warned. The cards weren't out for this meeting, instead Cayde and Andal were peering over maps of Luna and a particular Fallen Ketch. Tevis was out on a scouting mission on Titan with one of his trainees in tow, so it was just the three of them this time around. 

"Taniks is a threat, one that we need to deal with immediately. He plays for anyone with the coin, and House Kings are getting restless. I want this one gone before he cracks a hole in our wall."

Shiro shook his head, crossing his arms. "You don't understand. A mercenary doesn't sit well with the ranks of Fallen. House Exile exists because he protects them and because they've got too many among their number for the Devils or Kings to take a shot at comfortably. Taniks is strong enough that Kings want to work with him, not take him down. Now I've been your scout for years, I know more about the Fallen than probably any other Hunter alive, and I'm telling you: this isn't a good idea." 

"He'll have me with him," Cayde said quietly. Andal tried not to wince at the tone of voice his friend had, it was clear their little Dare had him perplexed. Andal wished he could properly explain, but Cayde would only really understand once he took his place at that table with Zavala and Ikora. 

"Then you'll both die," Shiro retorted. "You two are going in with no backup and with an incomplete fireteam. You're good, Andal, but not  _that_ good. Cayde I could understand doing something like this, but why are you getting involved, and why aren't you telling him not to?"

"Because it was my idea," Andal said calmly.

The silence was almost crushing as Shiro realized the implications. "You made the Dare." It was a statement, simple truth. 

Andal simply nodded, turning back towards the maps. Shiro took a shuddering breath, then tapped at the Ketch diagram. "This'll be your best point of entry."

* * *

 

Andal's cloak hung heavy off his shoulders, and none of them spoke. Guilt rolled through Cayde in heavy waves, made all that much worse by the fact that neither of his friends blamed him. Being a Guardian meant putting your second life on the line, and the constant cycle of dying and coming back sometimes made them forget that there were times they didn't come back at all. Then things like this would happen. They would lose the best of their number on the front lines, and there was a terrible emptiness where once there was so much life. 

"Guess this means I'll be training Void Hunters for you now," Tevis said finally, taking a drink. "Traveler help them, they might actually _prefer_ working under me now."

Cayde smiled softly, grateful that for all his abrasiveness and nihilism, Tevis was never one to treat Cayde like fragile glass. "I think I'll bring plenty of life to the party, thank you very much. Have you seen Ikora and Zavala? They haven't smiled in centuries."

"I somehow doubt you of all people will change that," Shiro replied. 

There was another beat of somewhat uncomfortable silence before Cayde spoke, his voice low. "Keep an eye on the Fallen for me, Shiro. Monitor them closely."

Shiro nodded. "When Taniks is vulnerable, you'll be the first to know." 

Cayde nodded. "I have a bullet for him. Make sure he gets it."

The three of them raised their glasses: "For Andal."

* * *

 

Neither Shiro nor Cayde could bear to look at the two empty seats. Up in the Tower, Guardians were celebrating and drinking. And why shouldn't they? Oryx was their biggest victory in a very long time. The Hive's hold on the Moon and on Earth were tenuous at best now, and the Taken ranks were shaken to their core. Even the Dreadnought was open for their exploration and salvaging, and the Tower were rightfully celebratory for such a foothold. 

Cayde could not bring himself to join in the revelry this time. He had pushed it down until Oryx had finally been cut down, but now that the deed was done, the full weight of what they had lost in the process hit him. Sure, it was just one hunter. Sure, they had gained another Nightstalker and cut down the King of the Osmium throne and Nightstalker ranks were on the rise. Sure, the old ways of using the Light were rediscovered and being spread. But the price was  _Tevis_ , and that was almost too much. Perhaps especially because it was Tevis. Tevis had always been the most careful of them all. He was paranoid and wary, infamously grumpy and touched by the Void in ways few Guardians could ever hope to replicate. He saw the truth of the universe and didn't give two shits about it. His meticulousness and dry wit were well known in the Tower, even though he had rarely been seen since Andal's death- and now he was gone. The same way Andal was. 

"Why is it the best of us leave all the work behind when they go," Cayde groused, eyeing his empty bottle. 

Shiro was quiet, running a finger down the edge of his knife. He couldn't imagine what Shiro was going through in these moments, Shiro having been closer to Tevis than either Andal or Cayde had ever been. They both had the same quiet, wary demeanor, and their record for successful missions was record setting high, especially when the two paired up. It would seem that the least impressive of the old fireteam were meant to stay behind, and Shiro hates that its him who's left standing. 

"Remember when Andal was still a scout?" he asked quietly. "We used to pair up and help each other out during patrols. Tevis would make sure none of us were getting shot from behind, Andal would keep us all under control, you'd go in guns blazing, and I'd play clean up with anything trying to escape."

"Those were the days," Cayde said with a sigh. "That was a real long time ago."

"Makes you feel old."

"Good thing my classic good looks are forever preserved in metal."

"In what reality do bright blue horns evoke 'classic good looks'?"

"Excuse you? I think you mean all realities?"

"I think I speak for both Tevis and Andal when I say you're full of shit," Shiro said with a smile. 

"Well none of you guys had any real taste anyways," Cayde said dismissively. 

"You always say that to cover up the fact that you're a bad gambler  _and_ ridiculous looking."

"Shiro, I will station you as Reef liaison for 6 months if you go after my beautiful horn one more time."

Shiro just laughed. "Whatever you say, Boss."

* * *

Even with bullets flying through the windows, the sweeper Frame is still just... sweeping. Not that it makes much difference, blood, Cabal oil, dirt, and ash cover pretty much every surface, and half the wall is missing to begin with. The bartender is nowhere to be seen, and Cayde isn't quite brave enough to check the backroom to see if there's a body. 

"Just me this time, huh guys?" Cayde says quietly to himself. Behind him, the Tower burns and the cacophony of gunfire and explosions seem endless. His ghost rests quietly in his pocket, exhausted and drained of Light. Cayde dragged himself here between rescuing refugees and avoiding Cabal patrols to get a moment's rest, but looking at the last place he remembers his old fireteam gathering just fills him with a different kind of exhaustion. 

Staying in the City any longer is mounting on idiocy, and Cayde knows that he won't find anymore survivors. Zavala and Ikora are both missing, he lost track of them after he made an attempt on Ghaul.  _A gloriously failed one at that,_ he thinks to himself bitterly. No, his job here is done. mourning the dead and their impromptu graves won't help him. 

_I'm a pretty big failure of a Vanguard_ , Cayde thinks.  _But I can still do one last thing._  

"Have you made up your mind?" his ghost asks, voice broken and disjointed. 

Cayde checks the Ace of Spades for ammo. "Yeah. We got one last date waiting for us."

"Then... what are we doing here?"

"Having a drink before we go. And... saying goodbye." 

"Think this place will be here if- _when_ we come back?" 

Cayde smiles grimly. "I hope so, bud. Gotta tell the guys all about kicking Ghaul's ass, afterall." Cayde lifts his glass before downing it in a single swig. "Here's to you guys. I'll make sure to carve your names into every Cabal we meet."

"Poetic," his ghost says dryly. 

Cayde shrugged, stepping out into the remains of the City. "Funeral dirges don't have to be pretty."

 


End file.
